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When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

Play trailer Poster for When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth G Released Mar 17, 1971 1h 36m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
17% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 27% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In a fictional past when humans and dinosaurs co-exist, a tribe attempts to sacrifice the beautiful Sanna (Victoria Vetri) as an offering to their gods for protection from the carnivorous beasts. Tara (Robin Hawdon), a fisherman from another tribe, rescues Sanna from the ritual and brings her to his home, enraging Tara's girlfriend, Ayak (Imogen Hassall). Tara and Sanna struggle to survive with hungry monsters hunting them for food and Sanna's tribe out for revenge.

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times The folks who brought you One Million Years B.C. have done it again, folks. Rated: 1.5/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The Oscar-nominated visual effects overwhelm the so-so storyline. Rated: 2.5/4 May 24, 2022 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Entertains similarly to other prehistoric movies of the time - which is to provide little more than buoyant action, adventure, and stop-motion monstrosities. Rated: 4/10 Aug 31, 2020 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Aug 11, 2005 Full Review Bob Bloom Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) A corny, fun outing; more Hammer than history. the special effects are decent and the women are eye-candy. A hoot. Rated: 3/5 May 2, 2004 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews How could any exotica cult film buff take a pass on this extravaganza? Rated: C Feb 2, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (33) audience reviews
CodyZamboni Movie is campy, silly Hammer nonsense. It's overlong , tedious and boring. The only merits are some cool stop motion animation dinosaur action, and lots of attractive ladies in cave bikinis. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/06/23 Full Review David K There's only one word to sum this one up...ahkeetah. I would say not one word of English (or any real language) is spoken in the film but that wouldn't be 100% true. At one point, when the jilted mate does something vile, her friend calls out "Idiot!". What should one expect from a movie that has people standing around with little clothing, dodging dinosaurs and pythons, and killing each other as they watch the moon form into a solid orb. Watch this one late at night. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 04/18/23 Full Review Russ The kind of cheesy film you click on to see if it's as bad as you feared. Spoiler Alert: it is. But, putting Rachel Welch in a fuzzy bikini was Boffo Box Office a few years earlier, so the producers cleared off the Casting Couch for this skantily-clad epic. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/14/23 Full Review Dave S Set in some sort of alternate universe where humans and dinosaurs co-existed, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is worth watching for only two reasons – lovely scenery and some pretty effective stop-motion special effects. Beyond that, it is a head-slappingly frustrating viewing experience. The threadbare plot is merely a tool to compel you to watch a sweaty but remarkably good-looking primitive tribe (loin cloths for the men, sexy bikinis for the women) either run around yelling "akita, akita!!" repeatedly (which grows tiresome very quickly) or use pointy sticks to poke at aggressive prehistoric creatures, none of which readily accept being poked. Be warned – When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is as dumb as movies come. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 05/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Did anyone in the world actually watch this entire thing? I could only watch bits and pieces while trying to do something else, but I've never seen anything so pathetic. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member The fake caveman dialog gets tiresome in this movie and the story is cheesy as hell set in a fictional world where humans and dinosaurs live together its only elevated by its very impressive effects work for the time. While it doesn't earn any points for great storytelling it offers enough corny thrills to be watchable Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis In a fictional past when humans and dinosaurs co-exist, a tribe attempts to sacrifice the beautiful Sanna (Victoria Vetri) as an offering to their gods for protection from the carnivorous beasts. Tara (Robin Hawdon), a fisherman from another tribe, rescues Sanna from the ritual and brings her to his home, enraging Tara's girlfriend, Ayak (Imogen Hassall). Tara and Sanna struggle to survive with hungry monsters hunting them for food and Sanna's tribe out for revenge.
Director
Val Guest
Producer
Aida Young
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Hammer Films
Rating
G
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 17, 1971, Original
Runtime
1h 36m